Serbia to play Germany behind closed doors after UEFA sanctions

Serbia will face their next home match in the Nations League without fans in the stands. UEFA announced on Friday a punishment that forces the Balkan side to play Germany behind closed doors on 13 November and to pay a €50,000 fine over racist and discriminatory behavior by their supporters during games against Greece and the Netherlands.

• Serbia will play the 13 November match against Germany without spectators.
• The Serbian federation must pay €50,000 for racist and discriminatory incidents.
• UEFA adds further fines for inappropriate messages, pyrotechnics and a pitch invasion.
• Serbia face another sanction from the 4 October game against the Netherlands, with an away ticket ban suspended for two years.
• Veljko Paunovic's side sit bottom of Group A2 after losing their first four matches.

Germany match in Belgrade to be played without fans

The heaviest sanction arrives for matchday five of the Nations League group stage. The clash against Germany had been lined up as a major attraction for the local crowd, but it will now take place without any supporters. The ruling from UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body follows incidents recorded in September, when Serbia hosted Greece on the 24th and the Netherlands three days later.

Both games ended in 1-2 defeats for Serbia, a result that deepened the team's sporting crisis and has now spilled over into disciplinary matters. The closed-door sanction damages the reputation of the Balkan federation and leaves the national team without home support in a key contest as they chase their first points.

Fines stacked up for racism, pyrotechnics and pitch invasion

Alongside the main €50,000 fine, UEFA imposed a series of financial penalties on the Serbian federation for separate episodes across those two fixtures. The governing body charged €22,500 for transmitting inappropriate messages for a sporting event, a practice that has appeared in several of the disciplinary cases opened against Serbia.

The use of pyrotechnics in the stands cost an additional €2,000, while the invasion of the pitch raised the bill by a further €15,000. Added together, the charges point to a pattern of conduct UEFA has decided to confront firmly after racist and discriminatory incidents overshadowed the September matches.

4 October defeat to the Netherlands worsens the disciplinary record

In a separate case linked to Serbia's 2-1 loss against the Netherlands on 4 October, UEFA fined the federation another €20,000 for fresh racist and discriminatory behavior. The governing body also imposed a ban on selling tickets to Serbian supporters for an away match, a measure suspended for a two-year probationary period.

That same game produced an extra €20,000 fine for transmitting another inappropriate message through the event channels. The repeat nature of these incidents has turned Serbia into one of the most heavily sanctioned cases in the current edition of the Nations League.

What is at stake for Serbia in the Nations League

The standings make the outlook even tougher for the team led by Veljko Paunovic. Serbia sit bottom of Nations League Group A2 after losing their first four fixtures, still without a single point. The 13 November meeting with Germany, now behind closed doors, appears as one of the last opportunities to start turning the situation around.

Serbia sit bottom of Nations League Group A2 after losing their first four matches.

Group A2 brings together high-level national teams and demands immediate results to avoid relegation to the lower tier. With the closed-door sanction and a negative run of form, the room for recovery is shrinking for a side that entered the tournament aiming to compete.

Frequently asked questions about UEFA sanctions on Serbia